General Motors (GM) has been able to maintain profitability in the wake of several recent shake-up causing concerns within the automotive industry.
The automotive industry has faced several challenges this year with the projection of an upcoming slowdown in sales, tariffs that are looming, and higher costs for materials. Even so, GM has been able to post profits for the third quarter that were much higher than expected and the end of the year earnings are expected to come in at the higher end of its forecast. These results are thanks to the strong demand in the North American market that’s driven by the new pickup trucks that are being offered by GM under the Chevrolet and GMC brands.

In the past, the factory warranty that was offered on a vehicle gave you the peace of mind you wanted, but only for a short period of time.
Because vehicles are more reliable than they’ve been in the past, many automakers have added more time and miles to some of their warranties, and GM is joining that group. It’s time for the basic three-year/36,000 mile warranty to no longer be offered and something that’s more in line with the miles and time a vehicle will be owned to be offered on some of the GM products.

Cadillac is the luxury arm of GM, and it has always had its own personality and qualities that make the brand stand out against the rest of what GM has to offer.
Four years ago, the Cadillac team moved their headquarters to New York to be closer to their target customer base in one of the most affluent parts of the country. This move was made to set Cadillac apart from the rest of the GM brands, but it seems the team needs to move back to Detroit to ensure a smoother communication process between Cadillac and other GM brands.

An Immediate World Requires Older Communication

In 2018, you would think that leaders of different parts of GM would be able to communicate, collaborate, and make decisions quickly with the use of the technology offered. It seems that Cadillac has had trouble getting decisions made quickly enough and the current president of the brand, Steve Carlisle has decided it’s time to move the brand back to Detroit to be closer to the GM headquarters. This will ensure the lines of communication can move quickly and more easily between the parent company and this brand.

Sharing More Means More Communication is Needed

While the move to New York not only allowed Cadillac to be near the luxury brand customers that it wanted to attract, it also made it possible for the brand to attract some executives from other luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Hennessey. Unfortunately, the Cadillac sales have declined over time and there’s a need to be closer to the rest of the GM brands to ensure a smoother and seamless communication process. Because of this, Carlisle has made the decision to bring the brand back to Detroit to be able to improve the communication process.

Where Will Cadillac Call Home?

The Cadillac brand will be placed in the new headquarters in a renovated space in the Warren, MI area near Detroit. This will allow the brand and its leaders to be closer to the GM technical center. The need to be near the design and engineering teams of GM is evident and will allow Cadillac to continue to develop and offer more models in the lineup that is growing for the future. This is only the first of the big moves for the new leader of the brand, which gives us an idea that he wants to ensure his team is working alongside the rest of the GM brands.

Does This Mean More Models?

The current Cadillac focus offers us the feeling that this brand is working toward more small SUVs for us to drive along with replacements for the current sedans and cars that we see on the market. The future of this brand is in these two categories and with the sharing that has taken place between Cadillac and Chevrolet in recent years, it makes perfect sense for this brand to move to the Detroit area and be able to collaborate in person on a daily basis.

The early part of the vehicle development at GM saw every division of the company using their own engines, including Cadillac.
The shared development of parts and platforms didn’t come about until the 1970s when gas prices went through the roof and the development of individual engines for every brand had to stop for GM. Since that time, most of the engines used by GM came from Chevrolet and you can see a variety of the same build in each brand from the company over the course of the 1980s and 1990s.

A Change We Can Live With

While the sharing of engines has been a way for Cadillac to become more exciting and enjoy a rebirth with upgraded technology and impressive engineering, there’s still a need for the luxury brand to develop its own items. Finally, a new engine will be created that’s only expected to be used by the Cadillac team. This won’t be a Camaro engine or a Corvette engine, but a Cadillac engine and it’s being completely designed for the 2019 CT6 and CT6 V-Sport to give us an engine that we’ll absolutely admire when it’s time to take a drive.

The New Cadillac Engine

This new engine for the Cadillac CT6 will be a 4.2-liter twin-turbocharged V8. This is a huge difference from the Corvette 6.2-liter V8 that was previously used in the outgoing CTS-V models that gave the luxury sport version of the car a lot of fun for the drive. This new engine is expected to be able to offer 500 horsepower and 553 lb.-ft. of torque in the regular version of the CT6 and be tuned up to 550 ponies and 627 lb.-ft. of torque for the V-Sport models. This new size allows the engine to be much lighter than the V8 engines used in the past.

A Move Away

Most of the GM engines that have been in use have been of a single overhead camshaft design, which has worked well for a number of years. This new model will change that to be a double overhead camshaft design which is more complex but allow for greater angles between the intake and exhaust valves. This allows for easier airflow through the engine to make it possible to have the power needed to make this one of the most competent and impressive engines you’ll ever see under the hood. Will we see this engine design shifting over to other Cadillac vehicles? We will just have to wait and see.

A Hot-V in this Cadillac Engine

This new 4.2-liter engine will also use the Hot-V design for the turbochargers for the engine. This means the turbos are located between the cylinders, allowing for a more compact and efficient design that can offer you a better look for the vehicle, a smaller engine compartment, and the added power earlier in the rpm for the drive. When this engine makes its way to the CT6 it’s going to be an engine that changes the way the car can perform for you when it’s time to have a fantastic ride and enjoy the excitement on the road.

Search for:

About Us

First and foremost, we are journalists. We are not attached to any automakers nor do we belong to any consumer watchdogs. We're here to share the news and opinions that drive the car business.